30th birthday Shenanigans – Futaleufu and Santiago

All I wanted for my 30th birthday was to start the decade as I mean to go on. And I think I accomplished that! But planning for my big milestone was no easy feat… although we knew the location was going to be somewhere between Chile and Argentina, we had no idea exactly where – the beauty of an Oasis Overland itinerary is that it’s a bit flexible. When I asked Kim, our tour leader, where she thought we’d be on the 24 March, she said ‘oh – it’s a drive day and a bush camp’. Huh. Not exactly the thrilling birthday day I’d hoped for!

But that’s where I was wrong. We rocked up to the ‘bush camp’ on the 23rd – and it happened to be an actual campsite in Queulat National Park in Chile, on the shores of a stunning fjord. After a beautiful sunset, naturally, to celebrate my last night in my twenties, I stripped down and went skinny-dipping! The result? The definition of chilly in Chile. Brrr. Luckily, there was a roaring fire to warm us all up – and plenty of good Chilean red wine.

I spent the first morning of my thirties in true adventurous style – no make-up, hair unbrushed, in the same clothes I’d been wearing for three days… but hiking up to a famous hanging glacier inside the national park. As hummingbirds flitted past and droplets from the distant waterfall coated my skin, I thought, this is what I want my thirties to be: pushing my boundaries, hiking more, seeing more of the world’s wonders.

The long drive that followed the hike was made hilarious by a bespoke birthday playlist, lots of singalongs and a truck decorated in my honour. I really have to thank all the people on our truck, Dadingo, for making my day really special!! At Futaleufu, our destination, we signed up for my birthday present – white water rafting the notorious Grade 5 Futa river rapids — and after dinner, Lofty presented me with a bottle of champers (yay!) and the truck gave me a big chocolate birthday cake. Yum.

The Futaleufu river is home to some of the biggest rapids in the world… just not at the time that we visited! Even though the water was low, we still had an awesome time. I’ve been white water rafting a few times now, but I never get over the rush. On a beautiful sunny day, sitting (and, on occasion, screaming) down a river is just the most fun. We were in very good hands with our guide, Julio, who was an Olympic kayaker for Peru! I have no idea if the Peruvians are good at kayaking, but he took us down the most ‘perilous’ lines on the river to get maximum rapid impact – but still, only one of us fell out of the boat (and not me!)

But my birthday fun didn’t end there! I’m skipping a couple of destinations (to return to in the next blog post) to Santiago, where Lofty & I celebrated in proper style. Using Starwood points accumulated during all our wedding spending, we booked a night in the swanky W Hotel Santiago, with its gorgeous rooftop pool. After a lazy morning wandering around the parks and fish markets of Santiago, we sauntered over to the hotel. Nothing like spending an afternoon feeling like a big spender after all those nights camping!

I’d also heard that the sushi in Santiago was amazing, due to its proximity to the coast and strong Japanese influence (lots of Japanese fishermen cross the Pacific to fish the abundant coasts of Chile). We couldn’t get into the W Hotel restaurant but we did manage to get a reservation at Asian Temple Lounge inside the Intercontinental down the road. And it did not disappoint. We had grilled octopus carpaccio, tuna and salmon sashimi, seared tuna steaks and elaborate sushi rolls. It was absolutely to die for – and dirt cheap too! I’d definitely come back to Santiago. One day was not enough.